TURKISH GRAMMAR LESSONS

TURKISH FOR FOREIGNS

YABANCILAR N TRKE DERS NOTU

DR. BURAK GKBULUT

Turkish Grammar Lessons Contents

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. Introduction (Giri) Grammar (Dilbilgisi) Alphabet (Alfabe) Consonant Harmony (Sessiz Harf Uyumu) Major Vowel Harmony (Byk nl Uyumu) Minor Vowel Harmony (Kk nl Uyumu) Vowel Rules (nl Harflerle ilgili Kurallar) Adding a buffer consonant in between two vowels (smin Halleri, Kaynatrma Harfleri...) Infinitives and Plurals (Mastar ve okluk eki) Negatives (Olumsuzluk) There is, there is not (Var, yok) Questions (Soru) Noun states (smin Halleri) To be (Olmak, -dr) Adjective (Sfat) Noun clauses (sim Tamlamalar) Numbers (Saylar) Fractions (Kesirler ve leik saylar) Sequence Numbers (Sralama Saylar) Personal Pronouns (Kii Zamirleri) Demonstrative pronouns (aret Zamirleri) Possessive Pronouns (yelik Zamirleri) Reflexive Pronouns (Dnllk Zamirleri) Date and Time (Tarih ve Zaman) Day of the week (Gnler) Seasons (Mevsimler) Antonyms (Zt Anlamllar) Quantity Words (Miktar) Colors (Renkler) Family (Aile) Fruits and vegetables (Meyveler ve Sebzeler) Our Body and Organs (Vcudumuz ve Organlarmz) Animals (Hayvanlar) Character (Karakter tarifi) House and furniture (Ev ve eyalar) Illness (Hastalk) Tenses (Fiilde Kip-Haber Kipleri) Present continuous tense (imdiki zaman) Future tense (Gelecek zaman) Present simple tense (Geni zaman) Definite past tense, Past tense with -di (-di'li gemi zaman) Indefinite past tense, Past tense with -mi (-mi'li gemi zaman) Must, Have to, Need to, Want to (-meli, zorunda-lazm, gerek, isteme) Degrees of Adjectives (Sfatlarda derecelendirme: daha, en, kadar) Comparatives (En) Superlatives (Daha) Making an adjective stronger (Sfatlar glnedirme: ok, fazla, pekitirme) Imperatives Let, Wish Clouse (Emir kipi stek kipi)

49.
50.

51.

The Definite and Indefinite Article in Turkish (a, an: bir) Directions (Ynler) Introducing yourself (Tanma)

Turkish Grammar Lessons (TURKISH FOR FOREIGNS)

LECTURER: DR. BURAK GKBULUT
INTRODUCTION Grammar Turkish grammar is simplistic once you get used to the style. However, it can seem to be very difficult since the grammatical structure is totally different from the Indo-European languages. This is because Turkish is from a different language family called Ural-Altaic languages. Some languages similar to Turkish are Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Kazak, Uzbek, Tatar, Manchu. Compared to English, the most fundamental differences in Turkish grammar can be listed as: Ordering of sentence parts o A typical Turkish sentence is ordered as (subject + object + verb) Arkadam [My friend --> subject] araba [car -->object] ald [bought->verb]. No gender o There are no articles in Turkish, and no gender associated with words o No gender in personal pronouns (the Turkish word for he, she and it is o) Vowel harmony o Harmony of vowels is a very fundamental property of Turkish. The rules concerning vowel harmony need to be learned as one of the first steps because they affect the way almost all the other rules are applied. Use of suffixes o Suffixes are very widely used in Turkish. The meaning of prepositions, personal pronouns and tenses are all countered by adding suffixes to word roots. Kalbimdesin [You are in my heart] Once you get to these differences and learn the basic harmony rules, the rest of the grammar is quite simple. Almost everything follows well defined, simple rules. Sounds Another important point is the way you read a written text. There is exactly one sound for each character in Turkish. A character always represents the same sound, regardless of its position in a word or the characters next to it. Therefore, it is straightforward to pronounce a word that you see for the first time once you are familiar with the characters in the Turkish alphabet. Vocabulary Once you are comfortable or at least familiar with the harmony rules, the main challenge will be the vocabulary. Turkish vocabulary can be very challenging since the words have no resemblance to the European languages except the few words adapted directly from these languages.

Alphabet Turkish alphabet consists of 29 letters - 8 vowels and 21 consonants. 21 consonants: b, c, , d, f, g, , h, j, k, I, m, n, p, r, s, , t, v, y, z. 8 vowels are: a, e, , i, o, , u, . There are eight vowels in Turkish which are divided into two groups as follows: The A-Undotted Vowels - A I O U The E-Dotted Vowels - E Each letter has exactly one associated sound which never changes. Three letters of the English alphabet are missing in the Turkish alphabet.

NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY, ART AND SCIENCE FACULTY, TURKISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT, LECTURER.

1. 2. 3.

(Q-q) (W-w) (X-x)

There are seven additional characters not found in the English alphabet. 1. (-) 2. (-) 3. (I-) 4. (-i) 5. (-) 6. (-) 7. (-) The letters of Turkish alphabet and the sounds associated with these are in the following table Letter A, a B, b C, c , D, d E, e F, f G, g , H, h I, , i J, j K, k L, l M, m N, n O, o , P, p R, r S, s , T, t U, u , V, v Y, y Z, z Pronunciation like the a in car like the b in bet like the g in gender like the ch in chance like the d in debt like the e in less like the f in felony like the g in game this is a very weak sound, not pronouncing at all will be ok like the h in hello like the e in halted like the ee in keen like the s in leisure like the k in kelly like the l in lamb like the m in man like the n in neighbor like the a in ball like the u in urge like the p in pen like the r in rent like the s in send like the sh in shed like the t in tennis like the oo in good like the u in nude like the v in vent like the y in yes like the z in zen

Consonant Harmony Besides the vowel harmony rules, there are other basic rules that affect the way suffixes are used. A vowel following another is never allowed in Turkish, and there are rules to avoid these situations when they occur as a result of other rules. There are also rules about consonant harmony, that make some consonants change in certain cases. Vowel harmony rules cause the vowels of suffixes to be modified when they are added to some words. There are similar rules about consonants. However, you may feel that all these rules are too many just for a simple start. Then, I advice you to omit the consonant harmony rules when you want to say or write something, just for the beginning. You will still be understood. Consonant harmony is mainly for making speech more fluent, it does not have a major effect on understandability. You will eventually learn these if you decide to continue learning Turkish, as you read sentences or listen to Turkish speakers. Tip Consonant harmony is mainly for making speech more fluent, it does not have a major effect on understandability. There are two different cases of consonant harmony - either the last consonant of the main word changes, or the first consonant of the suffix changes. The trouble making consonants in this case arep, , t and k. Lets call the words that end with one of p, , t or k the trouble words. CASE A - Word mutation. (nsz yumuamas) Two conditions must be satisfied for word mutation to occur: 1. You have a word ending with one of p, , t, k. 2. You want to add this word a suffix that starts with a vowel. If the word has only one syllable, like sa, you are safe. The word usually does not change. sa- --> sa (his/her/its hair) sap-a --> sapa (to the handle) However, if the word has more than one syllable, than the consonant at the end usually changes. p becomes b becomes c t becomes d k becomes And here are some examples to this: aa-a --> aaca (to the tree) arap-n --> arabn (of the wine) kat-a --> kada (to the paper) geyik-e --> geyie (to the deer) Tip There are exceptions to both the single syllable and multiple syllable cases mentioned above. For example: kap-a --> kaba (to the container) saat-in --> saatin (the clocks) You should still learn and apply the rules though, there are not too many of these exceptions.

CASE B - Suffix mutation. (nsz benzemesi) Two conditions must be satisfied for suffix mutation to occur: 1. You have a word ending with one of p, , t, k, f, h, s, . 2. You want to add this word a suffix that starts with c or d. 5

In this case, the first letter of the consonant changes. c becomes d becomes t Examples: Leh --> Polish (people) Leh-ce --> Lehe --> Polish (language) Trk --> Turkish (people) Trk-ce --> Trke --> Turkish (lanuage) yap --> do yap-di --> yapt --> he did kebap/ yavaa/ ayakta/ aata/kitapta/Atatrk(c=)/Trk(c=).

Major Vowel Harmony Vowel harmony is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of Turkish grammar. Turkish words generally obey two vowel harmony rules, called the major vowel harmony and the minor vowel harmony. More important than the words obeying these rules, there are ways these rules change the vowels in the suffixes added to words. A good understanding of these rules is necessary to be able to use suffixes, hence to be able to make correct and meaningful sentences. 1. Major Vowel Harmony The 8 vowels in the Turkish alphabet are separated into two groups called hard vowels and soft vowels. There are 4 hard vowels and 4 soft vowels. a, , Hard vowels: o, u e, Soft vowels: i, , Words of Turkish origin generally (not always) have all hard or all soft vowels. This is just a generalization that you wont use for constructing Turkish words and sentences. Words that have hard and soft vowels together are said to violate the major vowel harmony. A word that violates the major vowel harmony probably has been adopted from another language or has been changed in the lifetime of the Turkish language. Each of the hard vowels are the hard counterparts of one soft vowel (and vice versa). Following this rule, vowels can be paired with their counterparts as follows: Hard Soft a E o u

A Turkish word is either a hard word or a soft word depending on its last vowel. ev[home] is a soft word since its last and only vowel, e, is a soft vowel. okul[school] is a hard word since its last vowel, u, is a hard vowel. kahve[coffee] is a soft word since its last vowel, e, is a soft vowel.

Now, try to guess if the following words are hard or soft. The correct answers are below the table. 6

Word meslek[job] araba[car] gzel[beautiful] yemek[food] glmse[smile] abuk[quick] gl[rose] gl[lake] gidelim[lets go] telefon[telephone]

Hard Soft ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

or

(Correct answers: soft, hard, soft, soft, soft, hard, soft, soft, soft, hard) Major vowel harmony states that: Any suffix appended to a hard word must have hard vowels Any suffix appended to a soft word must have soft vowels As an example to this rule lets consider the suffix -de. When added to a noun, this suffix gives the meaning of "at/in the location expressed by that noun". When added to a soft word like ev[home], this suffix is -de. However, when added to a hard word like okul[school], the soft vowels in this suffix are replaced by their hard counterparts and the suffix becomes -da. Hence: at home --> evde at school --> okulda in the car --> arabada at the lake --> glde Minor Vowel Harmony We saw that the 8 vowels in the Turkish alphabet are divided into two groups as hard and soft vowels. Besides this grouping, the 8 vowels are divided into two groups as round vowels and flat vowels. There are 4 flat and 4 round vowels. A vowels being round or flat is actually determined from the shape of the mouth when pronouncing that vowel, but it can also be seen in the shape of the capital characters. Flat vowels: A, E, I, Round vowels: O, , U, A Turkish word is either a round word or a flat word depending on its last vowel. ev[home] is a flat word since its last and only vowel, e, is a flat vowel. okul[school] is a round word since its last vowel, u, is a round vowel. kahve[coffee] is a flat word since its last vowel, e, is a flat vowel. Now, try to guess if the following words are round or flat. Move the mouse over the right table cell of the word to see the answer. Word Round or Flat meslek[job] ? araba[car] ? 7

gzel[beautiful] ? yemek[food] ? glmse[smile] ? abuk[quick] ? gl[rose] ? gl[lake] ? gidelim[lets go] ? telefon[telephone] ? (Correct answers: flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, round, round, round, flat, round) Minor vowel harmony states that: If a suffix starting with -i is appended to a round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -u or -. This depends on whether the word is hard or soft. The major vowel harmony and the minor vowel harmony apply to words simultaneously. This means:

If a suffix starting with -i is added to a hard and round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -u. o okul --> school [a hard vowel] o suffix we will add is -im (gives the meaning my) o my school --> okulum [the suffix -im changes according to vowel harmonies and becomes -um] If a suffix starting with -i is added to a soft and round word, the -i in the suffix becomes -. o gl --> rose o suffix we will add is -im (gives the meaning my) o my rose --> glm [the suffix -im changes according to vowel harmonies and becomes-m] my telephone --> telefonum my beautiful --> gzelim my lake --> glm Notes on Vowel Harmony Vowel harmony is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of Turkish grammar. Turkish words generally obey two vowel harmony rules, called the major vowel harmony and theminor vowel harmony. These rules change the vowels in the suffixes added to words. A good understanding of these rules is necessary to be able to use suffixes, hence to be able to make correct and meaningful sentences. 3. Practical notes about vowel harmony rules As far as vowel harmony is concerned, we can separate all the suffixes in Turkish into two main groups. Thinking in terms of these two cases simplifies these seemingly complicated rules. These are: Case 1: The suffixes with first vowel -i (the suffixes -i, -di, -iyor, -im, -in ...) Case 2: suffixes with first vowel -e (the suffixes -e, -de, -den, -erek, ...) All suffixes with first vowel -i, -, -u, - fall into the first group, and they are different forms of this case modified according to vowel harmony rules. bal-m --> balm (my honey) ev-im --> evim (my home) snf-im --> snfm (my class) 8

dil-im --> dilim (my tongue) sol-im --> solum (my left) gz-im --> gzm (my eye) okul-im --> okulum (my school) zm-im --> zmm (my grape) All suffixes with first vowel -e, -a fall into the second group, and they are different forms of this case modified according to vowel harmony rules. araba-den --> arabadan (from the car) ev-den --> evden (from home) kap-den --> kapdan (from the door) deniz-den --> denizden (from the sea) sol-den --> soldan (from the left) gz-den --> gzden (from the eye) okul-den --> okuldan (from school) kap-den --> kapdan (from the door) Note that no suffix has -o or - as the first vowel. Actually, no suffix has the letter - in it and there is only one suffix that has the vowel -o (this is the suffix for present continuous tense, iyor and this -o does not change according to any vowel harmony rules). bak-iyor --> bakyor (he/she/it is looking) gel-iyor --> geliyor (he/she/it is coming) sk-iyor --> skyor (he/she/it is squeezing) bil-iyor --> biliyor (he/she/it knows) ko-iyor --> kouyor (he/she/it is running) gr-iyor --> gryor (he/she/it is seeing) bul-uyor --> buluyor (he/she/it is finding) gl-iyor --> glyor (he/she/it is laughing) The suffixes in case 1 are affected from both the major vowel harmony and the minor vowel harmony. For example, the suffix -di can become -di, -d, -du or -d depending on the word at which it is appended. ara-di --> arad gel-di --> geldi kr-di --> krd bil-di --> bildi sol-di --> soldu gr-di --> grd bul-du --> buldu -di --> d The suffixes in case 2 are affected by only the major vowel harmony rule. For example, the suffix -erek can become -erek or -arak depending on the word at which it is appended. bak-erek --> bakarak (with looking) sev-erek --> severek (with loving) sk-erek --> skarak (with squeezing) bil-erek --> bilerek (with knowing, knowingly) ko-erek --> koarak (with running) gr-erek -- grerek (with seeing) vur-erek -- vurarak (with hitting) bk-erek -- bkerek (with bending) Vowel Rules Besides the vowel harmony rules, there are other basic rules that affect the way suffixes are used. A vowel following another is never allowed in Turkish, and there are rules to avoid these situations when they occur as a result of other rules. There are also rules about consonant harmony, that make some consonants change in certain cases.

1. When two vowels come together In Turkish, two vowels can never come together (note that there are a few exceptions to this rule). So, what do we do when we need to add a suffix that starts with a vowel at the end of a word that ends with a vowel? There are two cases here: 1.1. Dropping a vowel To say my house, you append the suffix meaning my (-im) to the word meaning house (ev). Simple enough, my house --> evim. You want to say my car. Car is araba and the suffix that gives the meaning my is -im. Change the suffix according to vowel harmony rules so that is can be appended to araba (a hard and flat word) and -im becomes -m. So, to put it together, my car becomes araba-m = arabam. However, two vowels can not come together in Turkish. Trouble... To avoid this, we drop one of the vowels in this case. i. If both of the vowels are in the group "-i, -, -u, -" than these two vowels have to be the same (look at the vowel harmony rules to understand why). Since the two vowels are the same, it does not matter which one we drop in this case. ii. However, if one of the vowels is in the group "-i, -, -u, -" but the other is not (meaning that it is one of "a, e, o, ") then generally the vowel in the group "-i, -, -u, -" is dropped. There are some exceptions to this, however, and these exceptions will be noted when necessary. Applying these rules, my car becomes arabam. 1.2. Adding a buffer consonant in between You are asked where you are going. You want to say "(to) home". Hence, you append the suffix giving the direction meaning (-e) to the word meaning home (ev) and your reply becomes "eve". However, if you are going to the car and you want to tell this to your friend, things are not that simple for you: First, change the suffix -e according to vowel harmony rules according to araba and it becomes -a. Now, add this suffix -a at the end of our word araba, and get arabaa. We have two vowels together. Drop one? Unfortunately, not this time. In this case we need to add a buffer consonant between the two vowels. There is not a simple rule to tell why. Sometimes one of the two vowels is dropped, sometimes one buffer consonant is added in between. However, what you do is consistent for a given suffix. If you are adding the suffix -e to a word that ends with a vowel (like araba), you always add the fusion consonant y in between. Saying to the carthen becomes arabaya. Too much effort spent to say a very simple word? More to come. Lets practice on a few other words: Coast --> Ky | To the coast --> Ky-e --> Kyya Room --> Oda | To the room --> Oda-e --> Odaya Ship --> Gemi | To the ship --> Gemi-e --> Gemiye This may take some time to get used to, definitely doable. Unfortunately, thats not everything. The buffer consonant is not y every time. y is the most common one, so you can put y whenever you dont remember which one to put, chances are high youll be right. The other consonants that are sometimes used as fusion consonants are s and n. Lets see different cases where these fusion consonants are used: a. The suffix -i If the suffix -i is used as the -i form of a noun, making it a direct object (like the in English), then the fusion consonant y is used. araba-i sat -> araba-y- sat -> arabay sat (sell the car) yaz-i oku -> yaz-y- oku -> yazy oku (read the text) 10

If the suffix -i is used as the third person posessive (his-her-its), then the fusion consonant s is used. araba-i -> araba-s- -> arabas (his-her-its car) para-i -> para-s- -> paras (his-her-its money) kedi-i -> kedi-s-i -> kedisi (his-her-its cat) * Note that the word for water (su) is an exception for this case, the fusion consonant y is used with the word su (water). su-i -> su-y-u -> suyu (his-her-its water) b. The suffix -e (direction suffix, adds the meaning of preposition to) When the direction suffix -e is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion consonant y is added in between. araba-e -> araba-y-a -> arabaya (to the car) konu-e -> konu-y-a -> konuya (to the topic) pencere-e -> pencere-y-e -> pencereye (to the window) c. The suffix -in (gives the genitive meaning, like Andys) When the suffix -in is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion consonant n is added in between. araba-in -> araba-n-n -> arabann (of the car, the cars) konu-in -> konu-n-un -> konunun (of the topic) pencere-in -> pencere-n-in -> pencerenin (of the window) * Note that the suffix -in is also used with the second person posessive meaning. If the suffix -in used as second person possessive is added to a word that ends with a vowel, than the letter i of the suffix is dropped. The same is true for the first person possessive suffix, -im, first person plural possessive suffix, -imiz and second person plural possessive suffix, -iniz. araba-im -> araba-m -> arabam (my car) kedi-in -> kedi-n -> kedin (your cat) kap-imiz -> kap-mz -> kapmz (our door) para-iniz -> para-nz -> paranz (your (plural) money) pencere-im -> pencere-m -> pencerem (my window) There are also other uses of fusion consonants besides separating two vowels. d. The suffix -le (with, by) When the suffix -le is added to a word that ends with a vowel, the fusion consonant y is added in between. araba-le git -> araba-y-la git -> arabayla git (go by car) kedi-le oyna -> kedi-y-le oyna -> kediyle oyna (play with the cat) gemi-le gel -> gemi-y-le gel -> gemiyle gel (come by ship) e. The suffix -de (location, like propositions at, in, on) and the suffix -den (proposition from) When the suffix -de or -den is added to a word as the first suffix, no fusion consonant is used. But when one of -de or -den/ is added to a word that already has a suffix or a series of suffixes that end with a vowel, the fusion consonant n is added in between. araba-de -> araba-da -> arabada (in the car) kedi-den -> kediden (from the cat) araba-si-de -> araba-s-n-da -> arabasnda (in his-her-its car) kedi-in-ki-den -> kedi-n-in-ki-n-den -> kedininkinden (from the cats) gemi-leri-den -> gemi-leri-n-den -> gemilerinden (from their ship) Possessive Pronouns There is a possessive suffix for each person in Turkish. All possessive suffixes are subject to Vowel Harmony Rules! 11

Personal Pronouns BEN I SEN YOU O He,She,it BZ we SZ you ONLAR they

Possessive pronouns Benim (my) Senin (your) Onun (his/her/its) Bizim (our) Sizin (your) Onlarn (their)

Possessive adjective suffix - (i) m - (i) n - (s) i - (i) miz - (i) niz - leri/-lar

Example: ev

Benim evim Senin evin Onun evi Bizim evimiz Sizin eviniz Onlarn evleri

Infinitives and Plurals 1. Infinitives Verbs in Turkish, when used alone, have the imperative meaning as in English. do --> yap come --> gel go --> git drink --> i sleep --> uyu In order to make a verb infinitive, the suffix -mek is used. to do --> yapmak (changes to -mak since yap[do] is a hard word) to come --> gelmek to go --> gitmek to drink --> imek to sleep --> uyumak The following are examples to the use of infinitives in Turkish: It is good to sleep. --> Uyumak iyi(dir). It is difficult to study. --> almak zor(dur). I want to go. --> Gitmek istiyorum. I want to walk. --> Yrmek istiyorum. 2. Plurals To make plurals of nouns, the suffix -ler is used. Below are some examples, note how the suffix lerbecomes 'sometimes -ler, sometimes -lar' obeying the rules of vowel harmony. road(s) --> yol --> yollar tree(s) --> aa --> aalar rose(s) --> gl --> gller room(s) --> oda --> odalar house(s) --> ev --> evler job(s) --> meslek --> meslekler

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Negatives 1. Negatives of nouns and adjectives To make a noun or adjective negative, add the word deil at the end of the adjective or noun. Positive Negative Bu bir araba. [This is a Bu bir araba deil. [This is car.] not a car] O bir ev. [That is a O bir ev deil. [That is not house.] a house] O ok gzel. [She is O ok gzel deil. [She is very beautiful.] not very beautiful.] Bu araba beyaz. [This Bu araba beyaz deil. [This car is white.] car is not white] 2. Negatives of verbs To make a verb negative, add the suffix -me at the root of the verb. to come --> gel-mek not to come --> gel-me-mek (the negating suffix is always added at the verb root) Note how the suffix is added at the root. This is always the case. A verb may have many suffixes, but the negating suffix is always immediately after the verb root. All the other suffixes follow as if they are being added to the positive of the verb. gel-di --> geldi --> he came gel-me-di --> gelmedi --> he did not come ol-mak ya da ol-ma-mak --> olmak ya da olmamak --> to be or not to be 3. There is, there is not In Turkish, there are special words for there is and there is not. In particular: there is --> var there is not --> yok Let's make sentences with these words: There is a book on the table. --> Masada bir kitap var. There isn't a table in this room. --> Bu odada (bir) masa yok. The words 'var' and 'yok' are more important than this, since they are used when you want to say "I have" or "I don't have" as well. In Turkish, to say "I have something", you say "There is mysomething". Let's give examples: I have a book. --> (Benim) kitabm var. Aylin has a car. --> Aylin'in arabas var. This woman has seven cats. --> Bu kadnn yedi kedisi var. (Like saying "There is this woman's seven cats") I don't have a car. --> (Benim) arabam yok. My uncle does not have a daughter. --> Amcamn kz yok.

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Questions Question Sentences Question sentences in Turkish can be classified into two groups like in English: 1. Yes-no questions 2. Regular questions There are also question tags, i.e. questions of the form "You are coming, aren't you?". In this lesson, we will see how these different types of questions can be asked in Turkish. Before looking at how questions are constructed, let's see the question words in Turkish. English Turkish what? who? which? where? when? how? how many? how much? how often? ne? kim? hangi? nere? ne zaman? nasl? ka tane? ne kadar? ne sklkla

Now, let's see how different types of question sentences can be constructed. 1. Yes-no questions In Turkish, yes-no questions are constructed with the question suffix '-mi'. It is important to note, however, the question suffix -mi is written separate from the word it is appended to. You can ask at this point: "Why is it a suffix instead of a separate word if it is written separately?". The reason question suffix -mi is regarded as a suffix is that it has to satisfy the major and minor vowel harmony rules for the word it is appended to. Let's see some example sentences demonstrating the use of the question suffix -mi. A. This is a book. --> Bu bir kitap. B. Is this a book? --> Bu bir kitap m? (Note how the regular sentence is turned into a yes-no question sentence by the addition of the question suffix -mi) A1. Yes, this is a book. --> Evet, bu bir kitap. A2. No, this is not a book. This is a notebook. --> Hayr, bu bir kitap deil. Bu bir defter. A. His name is Ahmet. --> Onun ad Ahmet. B. Is his name Ahmet? --> Onun ad Ahmet mi? A1. Yes, his name is Ahmet. A2. No, his name is not Ahmet. His name is Mehmet. --> Hayr, onun ad Ahmet deil. Onun ad Mehmet. A3. No. His name is Mehmet. --> Hayr. Onun ad Mehmet. A. This is my house. --> bu benim evim B. Is this your house? --> Bu senin evin mi? A1. Yes, this is my house. --> Evet, bu benim evim. A2. No, this is not my house. This is my mother's house. --> Hayr, bu benim evim deil. Bu annemin evi. 2. Regular questions Regular questions are the ones constructed using the question words listed above and the answers to these questions are not simply yes or no. In English, there is a certain word order for regular question sentences. The question word comes first, and the rest of the sentence elements follow it. In Turkish, however, questions are constructed in a quite different way. To learn how to construct a question, a simple way is to follow the following steps. This will work in most cases: 1. Construct the answer sentence. 2. Locate the word or phrase that is the actual answer to the question. 3. Just replace that word or phrase with the appropriate question word. 14

Let's apply this on an example. The question we want to ask is, "Who is this?". 1. The answer sentence will be something like "This is my brother. --> Bu benim kardeim." 2. The answer to the question is the phrase "my brother --> benim kardeim". 3. Replace this phrase with the question word "who --> kim" and the question sentence becomes "Bu kim?". To summarize, a question sentence has the same word order as a regular sentence. The difference is that the part of the sentence that is asked is replaced by the appropriate question word. The question word takes all the suffixes of the word it is replaced for. Consider the sentence "Ahmet eve gidiyor. --> Ahmet is going home." Who is going home? --> Kim eve gidiyor? (Ahmet in the regular sentence is replaced by who. The rest of the sentence is the same.) Where did Ahmet go? --> Ahmet nereye gitti? (ev in the regular sentence is replaced by nere. Note that the question word nere also takes the suffix -e of the word ev and becomes nereye, meaning 'to where') What is Ahmet doing? --? Ahmet ne yapyor? (The phrase 'eve gidiyor' in the original sentence is replaced by "ne yapyor --> what's he doing") Note that to make a question sentence asking a verb, we use : "What + to be (in the appropriate tense) + object + to do (in the appropriate tense)" Ex1: What are you doing? Ex2: What did Ahmet do? In Turkish, this structure becomes: "Object + ne + yapmak (in the appropriate tense and person)" Ex1: (Sen) ne yapyorsun? Ex2: Ahmet ne yapt? This is simply the regular sentence where the action is replaced by "ne + yapmak", which is consistent with our rule for constructing question sentences. 3. Question tags Question tags are the questions of the form: You are home, aren't you? He did his homework, didn't he? Mehmet will come today, won't he? Constructing question phrases in Turkish is very simple and straightforward. You just add "deil mi" at the end regardless of the sentence. The translations for the question tags above are then: Evdesin, deil mi? devini yapt, deil mi? Mehmet bugn gelecek, deil mi? Noun states In Turkish, a noun has 5 fundamental states, produced using suffixes, that correspond to meanings of some prepositions in English. It is not necessary to learn these as the states of nouns, but learning these suffixes is important since they are very commonly used. State Meaning Nothing state (no suffix) Just the plain noun. -i state Marks the noun as the subject of an action. -e state Adds the meaning of direction (very similar to the proposition to) -de state Adds the meaning of position (Used for the prepositions in, at, on) -den state Adds the meaning of from, used for this preposition 15

An important thing to note here is the use of the -i form. It is used to denote the subject of an action, and adds the meaning of "being known, specified" just as the meaning given by "the". This will be more clear after looking at the sentences below. (bir --> one, kedi --> cat, grdm --> I saw) Bir kedi grdm. --> I saw a cat. (Note that although cat is the object of the action here, the -i form of kedi is not used since it is not known, i.e. it is a cat, not the cat) Kediyi grdm. --> I saw the cat. (Note that kedi has the suffix -i, but the two -i's are separated bythe fusion consonant 'y'.) Now, example sentences for all the cases. Nothing state: o This is a house. --> Bu bir ev. -i state: o I saw the house. --> Evi grdm. -e state: o Go home. --> Eve git. (House and home are the same word in Turkish, 'ev'.) -de state: o The pen is on the table. --> Kalem masada. o Joe is at school. --> Joe okulda. o Your mother is in that room. --> Annen o odada. -den state: o I came from home. --> Evden geldim. To be The verb to be (for the is in English) is handled in a special way, it is different from the other verbs. This is also the case in Turkish, the use of the verb to be is very unique. Unlike all the other verbs, to be is expressed with suffixes. It can be in one of present tense or past tense. Lets see it in present tense and past tense for different cases of personal pronouns. English Present tense to be i am xxx you are xxx he \ she | is xxx it / we are xxx you are xxx they are xxx Turkish ben xxx-im sen xxx-sin o xxx Suffix -im -sin -(none) or -dir -iz -siniz none or -ler -dim -din -di

biz xxx-iz siz xxx-siniz onlar xxx or onlar xxx-ler ben xxx-dim sen xxx-din o xxx-di

Past tense to be i was xxx you were xxx he \ she | was xxx it / we were xxx you were xxx they were xxx

biz xxx-dik siz xxx-diniz onlar xxx(-y)diler

-dik -diniz (-y)-diler

16

NOTE 1 For the third person of the present tense to be, there are two cases. One with no suffix and one with -dir. If you are making a personal statement or you are talking in a casual way, you use the no suffix case. However, if you want to make a definitive or informative statement like one in an encyclopedia, you use the suffix -dir. Both have the same meaning, and sometimes can be used interchangeably. Lets see examples to this. This house is very big. --> Bu ev ok byk. That is my house. --> O benim evim. He is a student. --> O bir renci. Spider is an animal. --> rmcek bir hayvandr. (The -dir case is used since this is an informative statement) Sun is larger than earth. --> Gne dnyadan daha byktr. (Again, this is an informative statement) NOTE 2 When constructing the third person plural past tense form of to be, the suffix -ler can be ommitted in some cases. These are explained below: a. Humans or objects that have no individuality take singular conjugation for third person plural. But if the speaker wants to give objects individuality then he can use plural. This would be a poetic sentence. b. Humans and other things that have individuality (for instance animals that have names) can take either singular or plural conjugation. Usually if the subject is defined (if we known them) then we use plural conjugation. If the subject is undefined then we use singular conjugation. NOTE 3 Since the verb to be is different for each personal pronoun, personal pronouns can be omitted in speech or writing. The meaning of person is given with this verb. To say "I am beautiful." you can use one of: "Ben gzelim." "Gzelim.". Using the personal pronoun adds the meaning of stressing person. We will use the personal pronoun in parenthesis to indicate that it is optional. Now, lets see where to be is used: 1. To construct a sentence with a noun or adjective instead of a verb, like in English. The verb to be is the implicit verb here. o You are beautiful. --> (Sen) gzelsin. o You were beautiful. --> (Sen) gzeldin. o This is a house. --> Bu bir ev. o That was a house. --> O bir evdi. 2. To construct verbs in different tenses, the suffix for each tense is used with either present tense of to be or past tense of to be. Actually, it is present tense of to be in all cases except the regular past tense. Adjective and noun clauses In this lesson, we will learn how adjective clauses (for describing a noun using an adjective, likebeautiful girl) and noun clauses (for describing ownership relationships between nouns, like car's door) are formed in Turkish. First, let's start with the adjective clauses which is simpler and then we'll look at noun clause construction. Adjective clauses Constructing adjective clauses in Turkish is very simple and straightforward, almost the same as in English. The only thing you need to do is to put the correct adjective before the noun. beautiful girl ==> gzel kz 17

fast car ==> hzl araba big house ==> byk ev thick book ==> kaln kitap high building ==> yksek bina hard lesson ==> zor ders slow train ==> yava tren If you don't add the adjective before the noun but use it as the main expression in the sentence, the word order changes in English and it changes the same way in Turkish. This girl is beautiful. --> Bu kz gzel This car is fast. --> Bu araba hzl. Ahmet is tall. --> Ahmet uzun. I am tall. --> Ben uzunum. (Note the use of verb to be with the adjective) You are tall. --> Sen uzunsun. However, note that when you want to say a beautiful girl, the word for a (bir) is placed between the adjective and the noun. a small piece ==> kk bir para a greedy man ==> agzl bir adam a blue book ==> mavi bir kitap a short tree ==> ksa bir aa a long movie ==> uzun bir film Let's now apply what we've learned in the construction of a few sentences. This is a red rose. ==> Bu krmz bir gl. Joe is a quiet kid. ==> Joe sessiz bir ocuk. Joe is a very quiet kid. ==> Joe ok sessiz bir ocuk. Noun clauses Two nouns form a clause in three different ways in Turkish: Case1: The first noun tells what the second noun is made of (i.e. metal box, plastic plate...). In this case, you just write these nouns in the same order as you do in English without adding any suffixes. metal box ==> metal kutu plastic plate ==> plastik tabak Case2: The first noun describes the second noun, wth any relationship except for the madeof relationship we saw above and the specific ownership relationship. Examples to this case can be car key, book shelf, garden door, window glass... In this case, you write the nouns in the same order as English, but add the suffix -i at the end of the second noun. If the noun to which you append suffix -i already ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant s between these vowels to separate the two vowels. The third example below demonstrates this case. car key ==> araba anahtar book shelf ==> kitap raf garden door ==> bahe kaps (note the fusion consonant s here) window glass ==> pencere cam Case 3: There is a specific ownership relationship between the two nouns (the key of the car, the door of the garden, Kemal's daughter, the door of the car). In this case, you write the describing noun first and the described noun second as it was done in the preceding two cases. However, you add the suffix -into the first noun and the suffix -i to the second noun. If the noun to which you append the suffix -inalready ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant n between the two vowels to separate them. For the suffix -i, the fusion consonant is same as told in the previous case. You add the consonant s to separate the word ending with a vowel from the suffix -i. the key of the car ==> arabann anahtar (note the use of fusion consonant n here for the first noun, araba) 18

the door of the garden ==> bahenin kaps Kemal's daughter ==> Kemalin kz the door of the car ==> arabann kaps (note the use of fusion consonant n for the first noun and the fusion consonant s for the second noun) exception: The word for water, su, is an exception for the fusion consonants in noun clauses. The fusion consonant for water (su) is always 'y'. color of water --> su-in renk-i --> suyun rengi (not sunun rengi) water of Kemal --> Kemal-in su-i --> Kemal'in suyu. (not Kemal'in susu) (Note that ' is used in Turkish to separate the suffixes from private words that need to be always capitalized, like Kemal in this case) Numbers Constructing numbers in Turkish is simple and straightforward. The rule is to line up the parts in decreasing magnitude like in English, but without putting any conjunctive words in between. For example, direct translation of 1256 from Turkish would be thousand two hundred fifty six. Lets continue to construct numbers after you take a look at the table below. The numbers from 0 to 10 definitely need to be learned without any rule, as well as 10, 20, ..., 100 and 1,000-1,000,000-1,000,000,000.... After that, its all about applying the simple-straightforward rules and practicing. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 sfr bir iki drt be alt yedi sekiz dokuz on on bir on iki on on drt on be on alt on yedi on sekiz on dokuz yirmi 21 22 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 137 200 300 1,000 2,000 10,000 25,000 1,000, 000 1,000, 000,00 0 yirmi bir yirmi iki otuz krk elli altm yetmi seksen doksan yz yz otuz yedi iki yz yz bin iki bin on bin yirmi be bin bir milyon bir milyar

19 20

Looking at the table above, let us see how some numbers are read in different cases: 58 --> elli 63 --> altm 97 --> doksan yedi 19

sekiz 104 --> yz 148 --> yz krk 752 --> yedi yz drt sekiz elli iki 1,765 -48,392 --> krk sekiz 305,018 --> yz > bin yedi bin yz doksan iki be bin on sekiz yz altm be 4,762,345,258 --> drt milyar yedi yz altm iki milyon yz krk be bin iki yz elli sekiz

Now, practice time. Try tofigure out the number correspondin to thefollowing (answers are below the list) Turkish spelling Number ? drt ? on drt ? krk drt ? yz yetmi drt ? alt yz yirmi dokuz ? yedi yz yirmi drt ? bin yedi yz seksen be ? bir milyon ? yz yirmi sekiz ? bin dokuz yz on dokuz ? iki bin drt ? bin yedi yz seksen dokuz Correct answers in sequence are: 4, 14, 44, 174, 629, 724, 1785, 1000003, 328, 1919, 2004, 1789 Fractions Another point to note here is how to read fractions. The most commonly used form, x.5, is read as the whole part of the number followed by buuk. The only exception to this is the 0.5 case, which is read like the other fractions. For the other fractions, the whole part of the number is read first, and then the fractional part is read as if it is a seperate number after saying virgl . Acually virgl means comma, and this word is used for separating the whole part and the fractional part of a number. Comma is used instead of point or dot because in Turkish convention fractions are separated by comma. Here are some examples: 2.5 --> iki buuk 104.25 --> yz drt virgl yirmi be 1.705 --> bir virgl yedi yz be 274.5 --> iki yz yetmi drt buuk 14.8 --> on drt virgl sekiz 48.012 --> krk sekiz virgl sfr on iki 0.5 --> sfr virgl be 7.52 --> yedi virgl elli iki 305.008 --> yz be virgl sfr sfr sekiz

We should also look at the translations of fraction denoting adjectives. These are: Half --> Yarm (Be careful that this is used only as an adjective, the word buuk is used instead when you are reading numbers - half a bread is yarm ekmek, one and a half is bir buuk) 20

Quarter --> eyrek Some sentences and prases using these adjectives would be: Half an hour --> yarm saat Buy half a bread. --> Yarm ekmek al. Joe made a foul in the last quarter. --> Joe son eyrekte bir faul yapt.

Sequence Numbers Now, let us take a look at how order is indicated using the numbers. The suffix used for order is -inci. Adding this at the and of any number will give the meaning of order. An important point to pay attention here, as always, is that this suffix changes according to vowel harmony. 1st -2nd --> ikinci (not ikiinci, one vowel falls when there is two next > birin to each other) ci 3rd --> 4th --> drdnc nc 5th --> 6th --> altnc (again, not altnc because one of the double s beinci falls) th 7 --> 10th --> onuncu yedinci 25th --> 50th --> ellinci (note the same vowel fall here) yirmi beinci

Pronouns 1 Personal Pronouns Here are the Turkish translations of the personal pronouns. However, these pronouns are generally omitted in sentences since person is implied in the adjectives or the verbs in sentences. They are often used to stress the person. I you he she it we you they ben sen o i am adjective you are adjective he she | is adjective it / we are adjective you are adjective they are adjective ben adjectiveim sen adjectivesin o adjective

biz siz onlar

biz adjective-iz siz adjectivesiniz onlar adjectiveler

gzel --> beautiful I am beautiful. --> Ben gzel-im. --> Gzelim. (Personal pronoun is implied) You are beautiful. --> Sen gzel-sin. --> Gzelsin. He/she/it is beautiful. --> O gzel. --> Gzel. We are beautiful. --> Biz gzel-iz. --> Gzeliz. You are beautiful. --> Siz gzel-siniz. --> Gzelsiniz. They are beautiful. --> Onlar gzel-ler. --> Gzeller. 21

kt --> bad I am bad. --> Ben kt-y-m. --> Ktym. (Note how kt and -m are connected with the fusion consonant y.) You are bad. --> Sen kt-sn. --> Ktsn. He/she/it is bad. --> O kt. --> Kt. We are bad. --> Biz kt-y-z. --> Ktyz. You are bad. --> Siz kt-siniz. --> Ktsnz. They are bad. --> Onlar kt-ler. --> Ktler. geliyor --> coming (present continuous tense) I am coming. --> Ben geliyor-um. --> Geliyorum. You are coming. --> Sen geliyor-sun. --> Geliyorsun. He/she/it is coming. --> O geliyor. --> Geliyor. We are coming. --> Biz geliyor-uz. --> Geliyoruz. You are coming. --> Siz geliyor-sunuz. --> Geliyorsunuz. They are coming. --> Onlar geliyor-lar. --> Geliyorlar. For nouns other than these pronouns, you must use the third person case. Marzena is beautiful. --> Marzena gzel. Marzena is very beautiful. --> Marzena ok gzel. Joe is bad. --> Joe kt. Joe is coming. --> Joe geliyor. Demonstrative pronouns These are the pronouns used for obects instead of people. this bu that (between u this and that) that o these bunlar those unlar (between these and those) those onlar kitap --> book Bu bir kitap. --> This is a book. u bir kitap. --> That is a book. O bir kitap. --> That is a book. Bunlar kitaplar. --> These are books. unlar kitaplar. --> Those are books. Onlar kitaplar. --> Those are books. Possessive Pronouns Personal posessive pronouns: my benim your senin o-nun biz-

my noun

your noun

his her its our

his her | noun its / our noun

benim nounim senin nounin o-nun nouni biz22

im your siz-in your noun

their

onlarn

their noun

im nounimiz sizin nouniniz onlarn nounleri

Notice his/her/its is o-n-un instead of o-un. Since two vowels dont come together in Turkish, onefusion consonant is added in between. It is n in this case. Either a fusion consonant is added in between, or one of the vowels is dropped whenever a vowel is followed by another vowel. Which technique must be used changes among different rules, but it is consistent in a single rule. This will be mentioned in different lessons when necessary. ev --> house my house --> ben-im ev-im --> evim (personal pronoun is implied) your house --> sen-in ev-in --> evin his/her/its house --> o-n-in ev-i --> onun evi --> evi our house --> biz-im ev-imiz --> evimiz your house --> siz-in ev-iniz --> eviniz their house --> onlar-n ev-leri --> evleri araba --> car my car --> ben-im araba-m --> arabam (the suffix -im becomes -m when added after a vowel, since two vowels dont come together in Turkish) your car --> sen-in araba-n --> araban his/her/its car --> o-n-in araba-s- --> onun arabas --> arabas (Instead of dropping one vowel, here the fusion consonant s is added between vowels since the suffix is only a single vowel.) our car --> biz-im araba-mz --> arabamz your car --> siz-in araba-nz --> arabanz their car --> onlar-n araba-lar --> arabalar For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used. Gizems house --> Gizemin evi Gizems car --> Gizemin arabas My mothers house --> Annemin evi Demonstartive posessive pronouns: of this of that (between this and that) of that of these of those (between these and those) of those

bu-nun u-nun

o-n-un bunlarn unlarn

onlarn 23

Bunun evi --> The house of this unun evi --> The house of that Onun evi --> The house of that Bunlarn evleri --> The house of these. unlarn evleri --> The house of those. Onlarn evleri --> The house of those. For nouns other than these pronouns, always the third person form is used. The room of the house --> Evin odas Cats food --> Kedinin yemei Reflexive Pronouns The way reflexive pronouns are constructed in Turkish is very similar to the way we do it in English. The Turkish word for self is kendi. The reflexive pronouns hence are as follows: myself yourself Himself herself itself ourselves yourselves themselves kendiim kendiin kendisi kendiimiz kendiiniz kendileri kendim kendin kendisi

kendimiz kendiniz kendileri

Pronouns 2 In the previous lesson on pronouns, we covered the basic pronouns. The topics covered were: Personal pronouns (ben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlar) Demonstrative pronouns (bu, u, o, bunlar, unlar, onlar) Possessive pronouns o Personal possessive pronouns (benim, senin, onun, bizim, sizin, onlarn) o Demonstrative possessive pronouns (bunun, unun, onun, bunlarn, unlarn, onlarn) Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin, kendisi, kendimiz, kendiniz, kendileri) There are also other pronouns used for many different situations, like everybody, nothing... Let's now see the Turkish meanings for these pronouns. English Turkish Basic components of these pronouns every thing none any one, a some all Pronouns everything something her ey hi herhangibir bir baz btn herey birey (singular) bireyler (plural) 24

nothing anything everybody somebody nobody anybody all of these all of those all of us all of you none of these none of those none of us none of you some of these some of those some of us some of you

hibir ey herhangibir ey herkes birisi (singular) birileri (plural) hi kimse herhangi birisi (bunlarn) hepsi (onlarn) hepsi hepimiz hepiniz (bunlarn) hibiri (onlarn) hibiri hibirimiz hibiriniz (bunlarn) bazlar (onlarn) bazlar bazlarmz bazlarnz

In English, some of these pronouns that have negative meanings are used in positive sentences. For example, There is nobody here. (Instead of there isn't nobody here) In Turkish, you never do this. If the meaning of a pronoun is negative, it must always be used in a negative sentence. Similarly, pronouns with positive meanings must always be used in positive sentences. There is nobody here. --> Burada hikimse yok. Now, let's use some of these pronouns in sentences: Every flower does not smell. --> Her iek kokmaz. What is this thing? --> Bu ey ne? There is none left. --> Hi kalmad. Some students are here. --> Baz renciler burada. All students are here. --> Btn renciler burada. Everything's ok. --> Herey yolunda. Everything is here. --> Herey burada. Ask something. --> Birey sor. I saw nothing. --> Hibir ey grmedim. Is there anything? --> Herhangibir ey var m? Is everybody here? --> Herkes burada m? Somebody came. --> Birisi geldi. Nobody came. --> Hi kimse gelmedi. Anybody can come. --> Herhangi birisi gelebilir. All of these are mine. --> Bunlarn hepsi benim. Date and Time 1. Time Lets start with simple dialogue sentences about time, the question and different answers. Time - English Turkish (Parantheses for explanation only) What time is it? Saat ka? It is ten oclock. Saat on (10). It is five past ten. Saat onu (10-i) be (5) geiyor. 25

It is five past five. It is five past six. It is five past three. It is quarter past ten. It is ten twenty. It is half past ten. It is ten thirty five. It is ten forty. It is quarter to eleven. It is ten to eleven. It is eleven.

Saat bei (5-i) be (5) geiyor. Saat alty (6-[y]-i) be (5) geiyor. Saat (3-i) be (5) geiyor. Saat onu (10-i) eyrek (quarter) geiyor. Saat onu (10-i) yirmi (20) geiyor. Saat on (10) buuk (half). Saat on bire (11-e) yirmi be (25) var. Saat on bire (11-e) yirmi (20) var. Saat on bire (11-e) eyrek (quarter) var. Saat on bire (11-e) on (10) var. Saat on bir (11).

Now, time to explain the words and phrases used in this table. Lets start with the question, Saat ka?. Word by word: Saat --> Hour Ka --> How many It is not perfectly logical, but the question sentence used for asking the time is Saat ka?. Then, you may say, how do you ask how many hours? To say How many hours? you would say Kasaat?. Saat ka? is a special phrase for asking the time which otherwise would not be very meaningful. More or less the same is true for the answer. The best thing is to try to learn the main phrase instead of trying to learn the logic, because the logic used here does not apply to other cases in the language. You basically say "Saat xxx.". From the exact hour to half past, you say the time as minutes past hour. From half past to the next hour, convention is to sat the time as minutes to hour. The word for past is geiyor. The word for to is var. The word for half is buuk. The word for quarter is eyrek. The general phrase for "It is minutes past hours" is: Saat hours-i minutes geiyor. (Note the vowel harmony rules for the suffix -i) And the general phrase for "It is minutes to hours" is: Saat hours-e minutes var. (Note the vowel harmony rules for the suffix -e)

2. Date Lets start with the days of the week and months: English Days of the week Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Months January February

Turkish Pazar Pazartesi Sal aramba Perembe Cuma Cumartesi Ocak ubat 26

March April May June July August September October November December

Mart Nisan Mays Haziran Temmuz Austos Eyll Ekim Kasm Aralk

2.1. Day of the week A simple conversation about the day of the week would be like the following: English Turkish A. Whats the day? A. Bugn gnlerden ne? B1. Today is Monday. B1. Bugn gnlerden pazartesi. B2. Monday. B2. Pazartesi. Lets examine the parts of the question sentence first: bu --> this gn --> day bugn --> today gnler --> days gnlerden --> from the days (also means among the days) ne --> what Putting all these words together, the direct translation of Bugn gnlerden ne? would be Today among the days what?. Funny? Thats the way you ask the day of the week. After these explanations and translations, the answer sentence should be clear. 2.2. Whole Date To ask the date, you say: -Bugnn tarihi ne? -14 Temmuz 2004. Vocabulary: bugn --> today tarih --> date bugnn tarihi --> todays date ne --> what Using these, the direct translation of the question sentence would be: Todays date what? . Actually, this is how you form a regular question sentence in Turkish. You shouldnt worry about this yet, well cover it later in another lesson. The answer doesnt need much explanation. The day number, followed by months name, and finally the year. The day number and the year are both read as a regular numbers. For reading years, it is always read as a whole as a single number. Years are never read as two parts like it is done in English in the case of 1996 (nineteen ninety six). The way you read this year in Turkish would be bin dokuz yz doksan alt (one thousand nine hundred ninety six). 3. Seasons Lets see the words used for seasons in Turkish: 27

English spring summer fall, autumn winter

Turkish bahar or ilkbahar yaz sonbahar or gz k

Antonyms A set of important antonyms you need to know... English big-small fast-slow quick-slow full-empty easy-difficult heavy-light open-shut right-wrong old-new old-young first-last beautiful-ugly free-busy good-bad better-worse the best-the worst early-late cheap-expensive near-far here-there right-left tall-short dark-light high-low open-closed thin-thick slim-fat

Turkish byk-kk hzl-yava abuk-yava dolu-bo kolay-zor ar-hafif ak-kapal doru-yanl eski-yeni yal-gen ilk-son gzel-irkin serbest-megul iyi-kt daha iyi-daha kt en iyi-en kt erken-ge ucuz-pahal yakn-uzak burada-orada sa-sol uzun-ksa koyu-ak yksek-alak ak-kapal ince-kaln zayf-iman

Quantity Words English a little, some very, much, many enough any, no, none Turkish biraz ok yeterli hi 28

few too much, too many too more less a few

az ok fazla fazla daha fazla, daha ok daha az birka (tane)

Colors English Black White Red Blue Orange Green Purple Pink Brown Yellow Grey Color Light

Turkish Siyah Beyaz Krmz Mavi Turuncu Yeil Mor Pembe Kahverengi Sar Gri Renk Ak

Dark Koyu The question for asking colors is constructed similar to the way its done in English: Eng: What color is this? Tr: Bu ne renk? (Here, ne is what and renk is color) The answer is also simple: Eng: This is red. Tr: Bu krmzdr. However, note the difference in word ordering when you want to add a color (or any adjective) to an indefinite noun. Eng: A red pencil. Tr: Krmz bir kalem. (Not Bir krmz XXX) Now, try to understand the following sentences. English translations are below the Turkish sentences. 1. Bu araba ak mavi. 2. Evim koyu krmz. 3. Gzlerin ne renk? 4. Beyaz bir gmlek aldm. 1. This car is light blue. 2. My house is dark red. 3. What color are your eyes? 4. I bought a white shirt. Family English father mother Turkish baba anne 29

brother sister elder brother elder sister son daughter aunt (mother side) aunt (father side) grandfather grandmother grandmother (mother side) grandmother (father side) nephew, niece uncle (father side) uncle (mother side) cousin father-in-law mother-in-law sister-in-law sister-in-law's husband son-in-law daughter-in-law sister's husband grandson, granddaughter, grandchild twin twin brother, twin sister wife husband step mother step father

(erkek) karde (kz) karde abi abla oul - erkek ocuk kz - kz ocuk teyze hala dede - bykbaba nine - bykanne anneanne babaanne yeen amca day kuzen kaynbaba - kaynpeder kaynana - kaynvalide baldz bacanak damat gelin enite torun ikiz ikiz karde e, hanm, kar koca vey anne vey baba

Fruits and vegetables English Fruits --- Meyveler banana apple orange grape cherry tangerine muz elma portakal zm kiraz mandalina 30 Turkish

sour cherry pear avocado pineapple strawberry currant grapefruit fig watermelon melon apricot kiwi mulberry raspberry blackberry plum Vegetables --- Sebzeler lettuce eggplant zucchini cucumber parsley potato onion tomato pepper cabbage cauliflower lemon

vine armut avokado ananas ilek kuzm greyfurt incir karpuz kavun kays kivi dut ahududu brtlen erik marul patlcan kabak salatalk - hyar maydanoz patates soan domates biber lahana karnbahar limon

Weight is measured with kilograms in Turkey like in Europe, unlike pounds used in America. Some sentences useful for buying fruits and vegetables would be: Sentences for request: A. Bir kilo domates alabilir miyim? (Can I get one kilogram tomatoes?) A. ki kilo elma verir misiniz? (Can you give me two kilograms of apple?) A. Yarm kilo ilek alacaktm. (Something like "I would like to buy half a kilogram of strawberries.") Possible response of the seller: B. Tabi, buyrun.(Sure, here you are) B. Hemen. (Immediately) B. Buyrun, afiyet olsun. (Here you are, good appetite) Reply to the seller before leaving: A. Teekkrler. (Thank you) A. Hayrl iler. (Something like "Have a fruitful work day") A. yi gnler. (Have a nice day) 31

Another point worth noting if you are in Turkey is that bargaining is very common :) You can buy many things under the display price with some bargaining. However, this is not true if you are shopping from a supermarket where you buy things and pay to the cashier. Body parts English Vcudumuz --- Our Body head body arm leg hand foot finger index finger thumb eye ear hair nail nose mouth tooth tongue cheek chin throat neck eyelash eyelid eyebrow forehead temple wrist ankle heel elbow knee lip moustache kafa - ba vcut - gvde kol bacak el ayak parmak iaret parma ba parmak gz kulak sa trnak burun az di dil yanak ene boaz boyun kirpik gz kapa ka aln akak bilek - kol bilei ayak bilei topuk dirsek diz dudak byk 32 Turkish

beard shoulder waist toe abdomen Organs --- Organlar heart lung liver kidney stomach vein blood brain

sakal omuz bel ayak baparma karn kalp akcier karacier bbrek mide damar - toplardamar kan beyin

Animals English Animals --- Hayvanlar animal lion tiger sheep cow bull ox hen rooster pig horse donkey turkey dog cat mouse fish whale dolphin shark octopus insect, bug butterfly bee hayvan aslan kaplan koyun inek boa kz tavuk horoz domuz at eek hindi kpek kedi fare balk balina yunus kpek bal ahtapot bcek kelebek ar 33 Turkish

ant wolf deer bat beaver gull hawk hedgehog squirrel stork vulture worm wasp millipede hyena grasshopper zebra fox snake elephant bear giraffe penguin spider crocodile lizard turtle rabbt bird fish frog monkey Character English Character --- Karakter behavior honest patient impatient kind proud polite impolite

karnca kurt geyik yarasa kunduz mart ahin kirpi sincap leylek akbaba kurt - solucan eek ars krkayak srtlan ekirge zebra tilki ylan fil ay zrafa penguen rmcek timsah kertenkele kaplumbaa tavan ku balk kurbaa maymun

Turkish davran drst sabrl sabrsz kibar gururlu kibar kaba 34

decent skilful witty, clever quite curious funny boring cruel talkative good bad naive optimistic pessimistic shy strange sensitive crazy tolerant clumsy tidy untidy friendly glad hardworking lazy joyful happy unhappy sad surprising serious charming angry stupid arrogant jealous understanding excuse obedient active

terbiyeli - nazik yetenekli zeki - akll suskun - sessiz merakl komik skc zalim konukan iyi kt saf iyimser ktmser utanga garip duygusal lgn toleransl sakar dzenli dzensiz cana yakn memnun alkan tembel neeli mutlu mutsuz zgn artc ciddi ekici sinirli - kzgn aptal kstah kskan anlayl zr itaatkar aktif 35

nice amusing joyful arrogant modest

ho elenceli neeli kibirli alak gnll

House and furniture English House --- Ev door room front door back door window kitchen bedroom dining room living room chldren's room bathroom toilet balcony corridor garden basement ground floor garage terrace yard upper floor/story loft cellar stairs step lift, elevator wall roof fireplace Furniture --- Eyalar table bookcase chair wardrobe Turkish kap oda n kap arka kap pencere mutfak yatak odas yemek odas oturma odas ocuk odas banyo tuvalet balkon koridor bahe bodrum zemin kat garaj teras avlu st kat tavan aras kiler merdiven basamak asansr duvar at mine masa kitaplk sandalye gardrop 36

shelf armchair sofa shower trash bin ashtray bathtub door mat tap heating candle key lamp frame socket plug mirror door bell radio television computer pan glass bottle plate spoon fork

raf koltuk koltuk - kanepe du p kutusu kl tablas kvet paspas musluk kalorifer mum anahtar lamba ereve priz fi ayna kap zili radyo televizyon bilgisayar tava bardak ie tabak kak atal

Illness English Sicknesses sick headache to catch a cold flu measles tootache stomach ache contagious ulcer cancer to faint hasta, rahatsz ba ars souk almak grip nezle di ars karn ars bulac lser kanser baylmak 37 Turkish

hiccups migraine heart attack itch to itch angina bronchitis

hkrk migren kalp krizi kat kanmak anjin bronit

Now, some sentences for telling you or somebody is sick. - I am sick. (Hastaym.) - I am very sick. (ok hastaym.) - I have a toothache. (Diim aryor.) - I have a cold. (Nezleyim. or Nezle oldum.) - I got sick. (Hasta oldum. or Hastalandm.) - I dont feel well. (yi hissetmiyorum. ) - My foot is itching. (Ayam kanyor.) If somebody tells you that he is sick or somebody close to him is sick, you say: - Gemi olsun. (This is like wishing for recovery.)

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TENSES There are 5 fundamental tenses in Turkish. These are: 1. Present simple tense (Geni zaman) 2. Present continuous tense (imdiki zaman) 3. Future tense (Gelecek zaman) 4. Past tense with -di (-di'li gemi zaman) --> Regular past tense 5. Past tense with -mi (-mi'li gemi zaman) --> Also called the story past tense In the basic grammar lessons, we will cover the present continuous tense and the future tense. Rest will be covered in the intermediate level lessons. To start with, let's review some verbs we'll use in the following lessons and their meanings: gelmek --> to come gitmek --> to go okumak --> to read kapatmak --> to close komak --> to run aramak --> to call konumak --> to talk vermek --> to give kaynamak --> to boil almak --> to work yemek --> to eat beklemek --> to wait The meaning of tenses are given using some suffixes. There are some important properties common to all these suffixes denoting tense: The suffix for tenses is added right after the verb root if the verb is positive, or after the negating suffix if the verb is negative. The present tense for of 'to be' comes after the suffix for tense. o Therefore, the order becomes: verb root + (negative) + tense + present tense to be o This is different only for the regular past tense, where past tense form of to be is used.
o

1. Present continuous tense (imdiki zaman) The suffix for present continuous tense is -iyor. Present continuous tense is used, very much like the one in English: To tell what you are currently doing o I am working now. --> imdi alyorum. o I am eating ice cream. --> Dondurma yiyorum. To tell something you will do in the close future o Wait, I'm coming in 5 minutes. --> Bekle, 5 dakika iinde geliyorum. Present continuous tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives. NOTE: In turkish, the verbs that ending with a,e (example: bala, oyna, doyma, izle, gelme, gzle etc.) when it takes present continious suffix -iyor, -yor or yor, -uyor; a vowel becomes , u; e vowel becomes i, . Like: Bala(to start): balyor (not balayor), kana(to bleed): kanyor (not kanayor), izle(to watch): izliyor (not izleyor). Gzle: gzlyor, gelme: gelmiyor. De(say): diyor (not deyor) Present continuous tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + (negative) + iyor + present tense to be If the verb you want to add the suffix -iyor ends with a vowel, drop the last vowel and add iyor. Otherwise, just simply add -iyor. Be careful about the vowel harmony rules for the 'i' of -iyor. Let's see how a verb is put into present continuous tense on the following examples: gel-iyor --> geliyor --> he is coming git-iyor-im --> gidiyorum --> i am going oku-iyor --> okuyor --> he is reading kapat-iyor-iz --> kapatyoruz --> we are closing 39

ko-iyor --> kouyor --> he is running ara-iyor-sin --> aryorsun --> you are calling konu-iyor --> konuuyor --> he is talking ver-me-iyor --> vermiyor --> he is not giving ye-me-iyor --> yemiyor --> he is not eating gel-me-iyor-siniz --> gelmiyorsunuz --> you are not coming (plural you) And let's see how present continuous tense is used with different cases of person. English Turkish to come --> gelmek i am coming (ben) geliyor-im --> geliyorum you are coming (sen) geliyor-sin --> geliyorsun he \ (o) geliyor she | is coming it / we are coming (biz) geliyor-iz --> geliyoruz you are coming (siz) geliyor-siniz --> geliyorsunuz they are coming (onlar) geliyor-ler --> geliyorlar (+) AFFIRMATIVE (OLUMLU) gelmek - [gel -mek] - to come geliyorum - I am coming geliyorsun - you are coming geliyor - he is coming geliyoruz - we are coming geliyorsunuz - you are coming geliyorlar - they are coming (-) NEGATIVE (OLUMSUZ) gelmemek - [gelme -mek] - not to come gelmiyorum - I am not coming gelmiyorsun - you are not coming gelmiyor - he is not coming gelmiyoruz - we are not coming gelmiyorsunuz - you are not coming gelmiyorlar - they are not coming

QUESTON (SORU) gelmek geliyor muyum? to come am I comi ng? are you comi ng? is he comi ng?

NEGATVE QUESTONS (OLUMSUZ-SORU) Gelmemek not to come

gelmiyor muyum? Am I not coming?

geliyor musun?

gelmiyor musun? Arent you coming?

geliyor mu?

gelmiyor mu? Isnt he coming

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geliyor muyuz?

are we comi ng? are you comi ng? are they comi ng?

gelmiyor musunuz?

geliyor musunu z?

gelmiyor muyuz?

geliyorla r m?

gelmiyorlar m?

2. Future tense (Gelecek zaman) The suffix for future tense in Turkish is -ecek. There are not two different cases like in English willand is going to. Future tense is always constructed using the suffix -ecek. The uses of the Turkish future tense is just like a union of the uses of will and going to in English. To express any action that will take place in the future. Future tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives. Future tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + (negative) + ecek + present tense to be When you want to append the suffix -ecek to a verb that ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant 'y' between the verb and the suffix to separate the two vowels. Otherwise, just simply add the suffix -ecek. Be careful about the harmony rules though, as always. Let's see how future tense is obtained using some example verbs: gel-ecek --> gelecek --> he will come git-ecek-im --> gideceim --> I will go oku-ecek-sin --> okuyacaksn --> you will read kapat-ecek-iz --> kapatacaz --> we will close ko-ecek-siniz --> koacaksnz --> you will run (plural you) ara-ecek-ler --> arayacaklar --> they will call konu-me-ecek --> konumayacak --> he will not talk ver-me-ecek-sin --> vermeyeceksin --> you will not give To see the use of future tense with different cases of person, check the following table: English Turkish to close --> kapatmak i will close (ben) kapatacak-im --> kapatacam you will close (sen) kapatacak-sin --> kapatacaksn he \ (o) kapatacak she | will close it / we will close (biz) kapatacak-iz --> kapatacaz you will close (siz) kapatacak-siniz --> kapatacaksnz they will close (onlar) kapatacak-ler --> kapatacaklar AffirmativeNegative geleceim I Will come geleceksin gelecek gelmeyeceim I Will not come Gelmeyeceksi n Gelmeyecek 41

geleceiz geleceksiniz Gelecekler

gelmeyeceiz Gelmeyeceksi niz Gelmeyecekler

Question gelm ek gelec ek miyi m? gelec ek misin ? gelec ek mi? gelec ek miyiz ? gelec ek misin iz? gelec ekler mi? to come Will I come?

Negative Questions gelmemek to not come Dont I come?

gelmeyecek miyim?

Will you come Will he,she come? Will we come? Will you come? Will they come?

gelmeyecek misin?

Dont you come? Doesnt he come? Dont we come? Dont you come? Dont they come?

gelmeyecek mi?

gelmeyecek miyiz?

gelmeyecek misiniz?

gelmeyecekler mi?

Present simple tense (Geni zaman) The present simple tense is used, very much ike the one in English: To make general statements o Water boils at 100 degrees. --> Su 100 derecede kaynar. To mention things you do regularly o I run every morning. --> Her sabah koarm.

We use Present Simple Tense suffix (-r, -ar, -er, -r, -ir, -ur, -r) like this: 1. If word ending with the vowels we use "-r" suffix. Like: syle-r (tell) oku-r (read) yr-r (walk) 2. If word is one syllable we use "-ar" and "-er" suffixes. Like: bak-ar (look) yaz-ar (write) sor-ar (ask) NOTE: But this 13 words are exceptional and dosen't suit with this rule. Here are this words: gel-ir, al-r, bil-ir, var-r, gr-r, kal-r, bul-ur, ver-ir, l-r, vur-ur, ol-ur, san-r, dur-ur
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3. If word is two ending more syllable; and if it's and with consonant letter we use "r", "-ir", "-ur", "-r" suffixes. (after e,i: ir, after a,: r, after u,o: ur, after ,: r) Like: al-r (work) konu-ur (talk) ren-ir (learn) gtr-r(bring) sevin-ir (be happy)
Present simple tense is used only for verbs, it is not meaningful for nouns and adjectives. Present simple tense of a verb is constructed this way: verb root + ir or er + present tense to be The suffix for constructing the present simple tense of a verb is not always the same. The suffix is sometimes -ir, sometimes -er. This is the only tense with this irregularity, but there are certain rules that will tell you which one to choose most of the time. The rules that will help you choose which one of -ir or -er to use as suffix are as follows: 1. If the verb ends with a vowel, the vowel of the suffix falls and you add only -r. o ara-r --> arar --> he calls o oku-r --> okur --> he reads 2. If the verb has more than one syllable, use -ir o kapat-ir --> kapatr --> he closes o konu-ir --> konuur --> he talks 3. If the verb has only one syllable: 1. If the vowel of this syllable is 'a' or 'e' and if the verb ends with 'l', 'n' or 'r' then use -ir gel-ir --> gelir --> he comes ver-ir --> verir --> he gives 2. Use -er for the other single syllable cases git-er --> gider --> he goes ko-ar --> koar --> he runs Now, let's look at how the present simple tense is used with different personal pronouns: English Turkish Example 1 to come --> gelmek i come (ben) gelir-im --> gelirim you come (sen) gelir-sin --> gelirsin he \ (o) gelir she | comes it / we come (biz) gelir-iz --> geliriz you come (siz) gelir-siniz --> gelirsiniz they come (onlar) gelir-ler --> gelirler Example 2 to talk --> konumak i talk you talk he \ she | talks it / we talk you talk they talk

(ben) konuur-im --> konuurum (sen) konuur-sin --> konuursun (o) konuur

(biz) konuur-iz --> konuuruz (siz) konuur-siniz --> konuursunuz (onlar) konuur-ler --> konuurlar

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The negative of present simple tense is a little different than just adding the negative-making suffix me. Construction of negatives of present simple tense is given in the table below. The negative-making suffix becomes -mez except for I and we. Moreover, when negative suffix is used, the present simple tense suffix is not used. English Turkish Example 1 to come --> gelmek i don't come (ben) gel-me-im --> gelmem you don't come (sen) gel-mez-sin --> gelmezsin he \ (o) gel-mez --> gelmez she | doesn't come it / we don't come (biz) gel-me-iz --> gelmeyiz you don't come (siz) gel-mez-siniz --> gelmezsiniz they don't come (onlar) gel-mez-ler --> gelmezler Present simple tense is the most irregular tense in Turkish, it's not simple as the name implies. AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE gelmek - [gel -mek] - to come gelirim I come gelirsin You come gelir He, she comes geliriz we come Gelirsiniz you come Gelirler they come QUESTION QUESTION gelmek Gelir miyim? gelir misin? to come Do I come ? Do you come Does he,sh e come ? gelmemek - [gelme -mek] - not to come gelmem I dont come Gelmezsin you dont come gelmez he,she doesnt come Gelmeyizwe dont come Gelmezsiniz you dont come Gelmezler they dont come NEGATIVE-

gelmemek gelmez miyim?

to not come Dont I come? Dont you come?

gelmez misin?

gelir mi?

gelmez mi?

Doesnt he come?

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gelir miyiz?

Do we come ? Do you come ? Do they come ?

gelmez miyiz?

Dont we come?

gelir misiniz ?

gelmez misiniz?

Dont you come?

gelirler mi?

gelmezler mi?

Dont they come?

Past tense with -di (-di'li gemi zaman) -->Indefnte past tense There is no suffix for the regular past tense. The only point is that you must use the past tense form of to be. Be careful about the harmony rules though, as always. The use of the past tense with -di is almost the same as the English past tense. To tell an action that took place in the past. o He came. --> Geldi. To make a statement that was true in the past. o She was beautiful. --> Gzeldi. The same way regular past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns and adjectives using the past tense form of to be. The meaning in this case is the same as the meaning of 'was' in English. He was good. --> yiydi. I was successful. --> Baarlydm. Regular past tense of a word is constructed this way: word root + (negative) + past tense to be Let's see how a verb is used in regular past tense on the following examples: gel-di --> geldi --> he came git-me-di --> gitmedi --> he did not go oku-di --> okudu --> he read kapat-dik --> kapattk --> we closed ko-din --> kotun --> you ran ara-diniz --> aradnz --> you called (plural you) konu-me-di --> konumad --> he did not talk ver-me-dim --> vermedim --> I did not give al-ma-dik --> almadk --> we did not work ye-diler --> yediler --> they ate bekle-me-diler --> beklemediler --> they did not wait See how -d, -di suffix becomes -t, -ti. Look at page 3 and 4 (Suffix mutation) You have a word ending with one of p, , t, k, f, h, s, . You want to add this word a suffix that starts with c or d. In this case, the first letter of the consonant changes. * c becomes * d becomes t (not gitdi: gitti, not yapd: yapt, not yapd: yapt) Note that making the past tense of a verb and making the past tense of a noun or adjective is the same, but only as long as they are positive. The negative suffix for verbs is -me, but negatives of nouns and adjectives are constructed using deil. Deil is not a suffix, it is used as a seperate word. Let's see a few 45

examples to how nouns and adjectives are expressed in past tense. She was beautiful. --> Gzeldi. She was not beautiful. --> Gzel deildi. (Note what we did is just to replace the suffix -me for verbs with the word deil in the case of nouns and adjectives. The ordering is still the same. Past tense of to be, which followed me for verbs, is now put after deil) You were not kids. --> ocuk deildiniz. Let's see how these personal suffixes are used on some example verbs: English Turkish to wait --> beklemek i waited (ben) bekle-dim --> bekledim you waite (sen) bekle-din --> bekledin d he \ (o) bekle-di --> bekledi she | wait ed it / we waited (biz) bekle-dik --> bekledik you waite (siz) bekledi-niz --> beklediniz d they waite (onlar) bekle-diler --> beklediler d to work --> almak i worked you worke d he \ she | wor ked it / we worke d you worke d they work ed AffirmativeNegative Geldim. I came Gelme dim I didnt come Gelme din You didnt come Gelme di He, She didnt come 46 (ben) al-dim --> altm (sen) al-din --> altn (o) al-di --> alt

(biz) al-dik --> altk (siz) al-diniz --> altnz (onlar) al-diler --> altlar

Geldin. You came

Geldi. He, she came

Geldik. We came

Gelme dik We didnt come Gelme diniz You didnt come Gelme diler They didnt come Did I come? Did you come? Did he come? Didwe come? Did you come? Did they come? Gelme dim mi? Gelme din mi? Gelme di mi? Gelme dik mi? Gelme diniz mi? Gelme diler mi? Didnt I come? Didnt you come? Didnt he come? Didnt we come? Didnt you come? Didnt they come?

Geldiniz. You came

Geldiler. They came

Geldi m mi? Geldi n mi? Geldi mi? Geldi k mi? Geldi niz mi? Geldil er mi?

Past tense with -mi (-mi'li gemi zaman) ==> Also called the story past tense To obtain the story past tense of a verb, we append the suffix -mi to the verb. Be careful about the harmony rules. Past tense with -mi is used: To talk about something you learned from somebody else or some other resource, there is some uncertainty in the statement. If you use the story past tense when talking about something, it implies that you are not the source of the information and you shouldn't be responsible for the mistakes. o I talked to his mother. He went to school. --> Annesiyle konutum. Okula gitmi. (The part about talking to the mother is your direct experience, so you tell it using regular past tense. However, the part about he going to school is information you got from the mother, so you tell it using story past tense.) To talk about something you just learned or understood o Is this your daughter? She is very beautiful. --> Bu senin kzn m? ok gzelmi. (You just noticed that she is beautiful, and you express this using story past tense) Simple stories are written and told in using this tense. Story past tense of a word is constructed this way: word root + (negative) + mi + present tense to be

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The same way story past tense is applied to verbs, it can also be applied to nouns and adjectives. I talked to Kemal about her. She is sick. --> Kemal'le onun hakknda konutum. Hastaym. (You learned that she is sick from Kemal) Prime minister was in France yesterday. --> Babakan dn Fransadaym. (You use story past tense because you learned this from somebody else or from the news) Prime minister was not in France yesterday. --> Babakan dn Fransada deilmi. (Remember that negatives of non-verbs are made with deil) Let's see the use of story past tense on some example verbs. gel-mi --> gelmi --> he came git-mi-siniz--> gitmisiniz --> you went (plural you) oku-mi-sin--> okumusun --> you read kapat-mi-ler--> kapatmlar --> they closed ko-me-mi--> komam --> he did not run ara-me-mi-sin--> aramamsn --> you did not call konu-me-mi-ler--> konumamlar --> they did not talk ver-mi-iz--> vermiiz --> we gave Finally, let's see how a verb is used in the story past tense with different personal pronouns. English Turkish to wait --> beklemek i waited (ben) beklemi-im --> beklemiim you waited (sen) beklemi-sin --> beklemisin he \ (o) beklemi she | waited it / we waited (biz) beklemi-iz --> beklemiiz you waited (siz) beklemi-siniz --> beklemisiniz they waited (onlar) beklemi-ler --> beklemiler Affirmative Gelmiim I must have come Gelmisin Gelmi Gelmiiz Gelmisiniz Gelmiler Question Gelmi miyim? Gelmi misin? Gelmi mi? Gelmi miyiz? Gelmi misiniz? Gelmiler mi? Negative Gelmemiim Gelmemisin Gelmemi Gelmemiiz Gelmemisiniz Gelmemiler Negative- Question Gelmemi miyim? Gelmemi misin? Gelmemi mi? Gelmemi miyiz? Gelmemi misiniz? Gelmemiler mi?

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Must, Have to, Need to, Want to 1. Must The best counterpart in Turkish for the meaning of necessity that is given with 'must' in English is the suffix '-meli'. The skeleton for using a verb with this suffix is as follows: verb-meli-to be I must go --> git-meli-im --> gitmeliyim (note the use of the fusion consonant y) We must study --> almalyz (note that the suffix -meli becomes -mal due to the major vowel harmony) You must sit down (plural) --> oturmalsnz You must go home now. --> imdi eve gitmelisin. We can show how to express the necessity of a verb the for different cases of person: Personal Pronoun Suffix Ben -meliyim Sen -melisin O -meli Biz -meliyiz Siz -melisiniz Onlar -meliler 2. Have to The meaning of formal obligation that 'have to' gives in English is best given by the word 'lazm' in Turkish. The structure for using this construct is as follows: verb-me-possession (blank space) lazm This might seem confusing, let us explain how this structure works. The suffix -me allows a verb to be used like a noun, it is similar to a gerund. You might ask at this point, wasn't the suffix -me used for negating verbs? That is right, but the suffix for negating verbs and the suffix for using a verb like a noun are the same. So, okuma can mean either don't read or reading according to the context in which it is used. In this case, we are concerned about the second meaning. So, in the phraseokumam lazm, the part okumam means my reading and the part lazm means required. When we put these together, it becomes my reading is required and this is what we use for I have to read in Turkish. Let's look at a few examples to clarify this further: I have to go to school tomorrow. --> Yarn okula gitmem lazm. I have to work now. --> imdi almam lazm. We have to get ready. --> Hazrlanmamz lazm. You have to go. --> Gitmen lazm. 3. Need to This is very similar to the use of have to, both in meaning and structure. The word we use to give the meaning of need to is 'gerekiyor'. It is similar to 'have to' in meaning, so that it can be used interchangeably with have to (lazm). It is similar in structure, which can be seen in the structural skeleton: verb-me-posession (blank space) gerekiyor The following examples will clarify this further: I need to go home. --> Eve gitmem gerekiyor. You need to be here at 2. --> Saat ikide burada olman gerekiyor. You need to sleep early. --> Erken uyuman gerekiyor. She needs to see a doctor. --> Doktora gitmesi gerekiyor. 4. Want to The use of want to is logically almost identical to the English counterpart. One important difference is that you use the verb 'to want' in present continuous tense instead of present simple. The turkish verb for to want is istemek. The structure goes as follows: verb(infinitive) (blank space) istiyor-to be I want to go. --> Gitmek istiyorum. 49

I want to sleep. --> Uyumak istiyorum. I want to take a rest. --> Dinlenmek istiyorum. I want to go home. --> Eve gitmek istiyorum. What do you want? --> Ne istiyorsun? Konumak istiyor musun? --> Do you want to talk?

Degrees of Adjectives Comparatives and superlatives are constructed in a very straightforward way in Turkish. Besides these, there is a special way of making adjectives stronger in Turkish and this is not very trivial. I this lesson, we will cover all these topics. 1. Comparatives 1.1. More, Less Comparative of an adjective is obtained by adding the word "daha" before the adjective. We can say that daha is the word for more and all adjective comparatives are constructed like 'more clever' (not like faster). faster --> daha hzl slower --> daha yava more intelligent --> daha zeki more hardworking --> daha alkan more beautiful --> daha gzel If you want to say less beautiful or less hardworking, then replace the word 'daha' with 'daha az'. less fast --> daha az hzl less intelligent --> daha az zeki less hardworking --> daha az alkan less beautiful --> daha az gzel Now, let's see how the comparative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) gzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha gzelim. You are more beautiful. --> (Sen) daha gzelsin. She is more beautiful. --> (O) daha gzel. This is a fast car. --> Bu hzl bir araba. This is a faster car. --> Bu daha hzl bir araba. This car is faster. --> Bu araba daha hzl. 1.2. More than If you want to compare two nouns with respect to an adjective, the structure used in English is as follows: noun1 is more adjective than noun2 Ex1: Ahmet is more hardworking than Mehmet. Ex2: I am more intelligent than you. The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows: noun1 noun2-den daha adjective Ex1: Ahmet Mehmet'ten daha alkan. (Note that the ' sign is used to separate private names from their suffixes) Ex2: Ben senden daha zekiyim. Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril gzel. - Gke is more beautiful. --> Gke daha gzel. - Gke is more beautiful than Beril. --> Gke Beril'den daha gzel. - He is more hardworking than me. --> O benden daha alkan. - My car is faster than your car. --> Benim arabam senin arabandan daha hzl. - US is larger than Turkey. --> Amerika Trkiye'den daha byk. 50

1.3. As ...as If you want to say that two nouns are equal with respect to an adjective, the strctre used in English is: noun1 is as adjective as noun2 Ex1: Beril is as beautiful as Gke. Ex2: I am as beautiful as you. The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows: eviacejda radak onuon onuon. no eviacejda radak onuon dd onuon Both of these expressions have the same meaning, you will understand the very slight difference as you see them used. One point to note here is that if noun2 is a simple pronoun (like ben, sen, bu, u) then it is used in possessive form (like benim, senin, bunun, unun). Ex1: Beril de Gke kadar gzel. Ex2: Ben de senin kadar gzelim. Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril gzel. - Gke is also beautiful. --> Gke de gzel. (de means 'also', 'as well') - Gke is as beautifl as Beril. --> Gke de Beril kadar gzel. - He is as hardworking as me. --> O da benim kadar alkan. - My car is as fast as your car. --> Benim arabam da senin araban kadar hzl. - US is almost as large as China. --> Amerika neredeyse in kadar byk. (neredeyse meansalmost) 2. Superlatives Superlatives are also straightforward in Turkish, like it is in English. Instead of 'the most', you use 'en', and all superlatives are constructed using this word. the fastest --> en hzl slower --> en yava the most intelligent --> en zeki the most hardworking --> en alkan the most beautiful --> en gzel Now, let's see how the superlative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) gzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha gzelim. When you want to use the superlative form in a sentence, there are two different cases: I am the most beautiful. --> (Ben) en gzelim. (This has the meaning of describing yourself, like an answer to the question "What are your traits?") I am the most beautiful. --> En gzel benim. (This has the meaning of the answer to the question "Who is the most beautiful?") I am the most beautiful girl. --> En gzel kz benim. I am the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz benim. You are the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz sensin. She is the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz o. 3. Making an adjective stronger 3.1. Very In English, when you want to make an adjective stronger, you use the word 'very'. Saying very fastis a stronger statement than just saying fast. The same method is applied also in Turkish, and the word for very is 'ok'. Hence: very fast --> ok hzl very slow --> ok yava very intelligent --> ok zeki very hardworking --> ok alkan 51

very beautiful --> ok gzel You are very beautiful. --> (Sen) ok gzelsin. She is a very beautiful girl. --> (O) ok gzel bir kz. This girl is very beautiful. --> Bu kz ok gzel. 3.2. Too Another way of making an adjective stronger, but this time giving the meaning extreme, is to use the word too. Saying something is too fast gives the meaning that it is extremely fast and should be slower. The word for too in Turkish is 'fazla'. too fast --> fazla hzl too slow --> fazla yava too intelligent --> fazla zeki too hardworking --> fazla alkan too beautiful --> fazla gzel We are too fast. --> (Biz) fazla hzlyz. This car is too fast. --> Bu araba fazla hzl. 3.3. Other ways A third way commonly used in Turkish (which is not seen in English) to make an adjective stronger is adding a modified form of the first syllable before the adjective. Important points to note here are: There is not a rule for how this first syllable should be modified, which makes this rule hard to learn. This gives the same meaning as using the word 'very' and makes the adjective stronger. All adjectives can't be made stronger using this method, and there is not a rule to understand for which adjectives this method can be used. A group of adjectives you can always use this method is colors, to express that the color is strong. However, there is no rule to exactly say which adjectives can be made stronger like this. Because there is not a well-defined rule, it will be very difficult to go over adjectives and see what the stronger form of each adjective is. I think you should not try to learn this for each adjective at this step. The best strategy here would be to note that there is a rule like this and when you see it used, you will understand what it means. In your sentences, you simply can use 'ok + adjective' instead and you will be clearly understood. Let's see some examples to this rule: hzl --> fast hphzl --> very fast sar --> yellow sapsar --> very yellow, strong yellow mavi --> blue masmavi --> very blue, strong blue beyaz --> white bembeyaz --> very white, strong white abuk --> quick arabuk --> very quick kaln --> thick kapkaln --> very thick Another way to make an adjective stressed and stronger is to repeat it twice. Again, this is not done with all adjectives and the best way to learn for which adjectives this rule is applicable is to note when you hear an adjective used like this. Don't be afraid by these rules, you will learn how to use them if you start reading Turkish texts or if you speak to native speakers. You can still express yourself without using these methods for making adjectives stronger. Simply use the word 'ok' before the adjective. I am giving these rules now so that you know the meaning when you see such a usage somewhere. byk byk evler --> big houses, the property big is stressed sar sar elmalar --> yellow apples, the property yellow is stressed There is also another way to stress an adjective and make it stronger. That is, adding a modified form of the adjective after the original form. This is again an irregular rule and you don't need to know this completely, just understand it when you see this usage. Sometimes, an adjective followed by the modified form of that adjective may have a slightly different 52

meaning. yal --> old (for people) yal bal --> old, mature eski --> old (for objects) eski psk --> very old and useless Imperatives - Let Making a verb imperative for the second singular person (sen), is the same as it is done in English. Just use the plain verb without any suffix or change. When you want to order something to a single person listening to you, you just say the plain verb. Examples: Come! --> Gel! Go! --> Git! Read! --> Oku! Sit down! --> Otur! Stand up! --> Kalk! However, different from English, there is an imperative form for different cases of person. Lets see now how these are constructed: Personal Pronoun Ben Sen O Biz Siz Onlar Suffix No first person singular form - (no suffix) -sin No first person plural form -in -sinler

Now, lets see the meaning of each case using the verb to go (gitmek). Case (sen) git (o) git-sin --> gitsin Meaning go! (singular, to a single person) let him go (not like "allow him to go", this has the meaning that you want him to go in an imperative way) go! (plural, to multiple people) let them go (again, the meaning is not like "allow them to go", gitsinler means that you want them to go and you are expressing this in an imperative way)

(siz) git-in --> gidin (onlar) git-sinler --> gitsinler

As you can see, a commonly used clause, "lets", is included in the imperative definition. If you want to say "Lets go to the movie", it becomes "Sinemaya gidelim" in Turkish. Now, lets see how the example verbs we used above are made imperative with respect to different cases of person. Personal Pronoun sen o siz onlar gelmek - to come gel gelsin gelin gelsiler gitmek - to go git gitsin gidin gitsinler okumak - to read oturmak - to sit down oku otur okusun otursun okuyun oturun okusunlar otursunlar kalkmak - to stand up kalk kalksn kalkn kalksnlar

There is no first person singular or first person plural form of the imperatives, but there is another form called wish clause that gives a similar meaning for the first person singular and plural. Note that only 53

the first person singular and first person plural forms of the wish clause are used in practice. Here is how the wish clause is constructed: Personal Pronoun Ben Biz Suffix

-eyim -elim

Case (ben) git-eyim --> gideyim (biz) git-elim -> gidelim let me go

Meaning

lets go

Personal Pronoun Ben Biz

gelmek - to come Geleyim Gelelim

gitmek - to go gideyim gidelim

okumak - to read okuyaym okuyalm

oturmak - to sit down oturaym oturalm

kalkmak - to stand up kalkaym kalkalm

The Definite Article in Turkish The subject definite article does not exist in Turkish as in English. The girl forgot her key. Any subject in Turkish can be understood whether it is definitive or not from the context. For example the subject kitaplar in the sentence Kitaplar pahal (The) books are expensive can be either definitive or not depending on the preceding sentences; context. The Indefinite Article in Turkish In Turkish, the word bir serves both as the number one and as the indefinite article a, an. bir kz - a girl/one girl bir araba - a car/one car bir bardak arap -a glass of wine/ one glass of wine

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Directions sol(a) - (to the) left / sada-sa tarafta (on the right hand) sa(a) - (to the) right / solda sol tarafta (on the left hand) ileri(ye) - (to the) forward (ahead) geri(ye) - (to the) backwards yukarya (to upside) aaya (to downside) dn: turn (dnn) git: go (gidin) kede: on the corner yannda: beside arkasnda: behind nnde: at front karsnda: aver against dz: straight / dmdz (directly) Kuzey(e) - (to the) North Gney(e) - (to the) South Dou(ya) - (to the) East Bat(ya) - (to the) West Kuzeydou(ya) - (to the) Northeast Gneydou(ya) - (to the) Southeast Gneybat(ya) - (to the) Southwest Kuzeybat(ya) - (to the) Northwest Introducing yourself - Tanma Ben.- I am .. Benim adm/ismim. - My name is . Senin adn/ismin ne? (informal) - What is your name? Sizin adnz/isminiz ne? (formal)- What is your name? (to more than one person or formal way) Tantma ok memnun oldum - Nice to meet you! Ben de - Me too! Ben de memnun oldum - Nice to meet you, too! Sizinle tanabilir miyim? - May I get to know you? Tantraym - Let me introduce (when you are introducing a 3rd person) Nerelisin? - Where are you from? Ben ngilizim/Amerikalym/Almanm vs. - I am English/American/German etc. Nerede oturuyorsun? - Where do you live? Trkiyede/ Almanyada/ Berlinde oturuyorum - I live in Turkey/Germany/ Berlin. Ya sen? - And you? Ne i yapyorsun? - What do you do for a living? renciyim/retmenim/ sizim vs. - I am a student/teacher/jobless etc. Ka yandasn (z)? - How old are you? (25) yandaym - I am (25) years old. Gitmem lazm - I have to leave. Umarm tekrar grrz - I hope we will see each other again.

There are more information at this site: http://www.turkishclass.com/turkish_lessons_1 http://www.turkishlanguage.co.uk/ http://freeturkishonline.com/index.html 55